Text size
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin again after reinitiating contact with the Kremlin chief last month.
“I have spoken to the Russian president and will speak to him again,” Scholz declared, without saying when, at a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal.
The aim of such calls with Putin would “always be to make clear that his contribution to ending the conflict is to end his aggression and withdraw troops”, Scholz said.
Scholz raised eyebrows when he picked up the phone to Putin in mid-November for the first time in over two years amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The previous exchange between the German chancellor and the Russian president in December 2022 was the last known phone call between the Kremlin chief and the leader of a major Western country.
The latest call drew an angry response from Kyiv, which accused Scholz of playing into Putin’s hands by ending his international isolation.
The conversation came at a critical point in the war, with Ukrainian troops under pressure across the front line and after the reelection of Donald Trump.
The US president-elect has boasted he would end the war swiftly, raising fears he might withdraw military support for Ukraine and force Kyiv into a deal on Russia’s terms.
The United States has to date been Ukraine’s biggest military backer, followed by Germany.
Scholz again vowed that Germany would “not let up our support” for Ukraine.
Efforts needed to be made to find a “sustainable, durable peace for Ukraine”, Scholz said, adding that nothing must be decided “over the heads” of the Ukrainians.
“Russia must not win this war,” he insisted.
sea/fz/fg